Oboe Staple Selection Tool

About the Oboe Staple Selection Tool

There are many factors that go into making your reed play at its best with your oboe and your physical characteristics. Finding the perfect setup is a long and difficult process, and this will need to be reworked if you change instruments and as you change and grow in your musical journey. We hope that the series of oboe staple articles has given you the data, along with suitable advice on how best to interpret it to help you make wise decisions about what staples to try in the process of your journey.

In addition to the blog post articles, we are also developing a computer tool to help you find the best staple possibilities for your set up.

Leading you through the complex world of oboe staples, this computer tool will focus on the problems and goals you have for your reed making and recommend staples that could resolve your issues and move you toward your reed making dreams.

Keep in mind that while issues with your reed may be solved by getting the correct staple for your oboe model, shaper tip, cane, reed making style and preferences, most of the time it is just one more piece in the puzzle of the perfect reed. One issue may be addressed in multiple different ways, for example if you have pitch issues, that could be solved by switching staples, changing your shaper tip, adjusting your scrape, etc. Each of those solutions come with different advantages and drawbacks.

Currently, this tool will focus on recommending staples for American-style reeds, but we hope to expand this tool to cover each aspect of your reed and offer you a variety of recommendations. If you are having an issue that is not addressed by this tool, please contact me at the button below. I will try to address it personally and we will update this tool if applicable.

When trying new staples please be aware that your tie-on length may need to be adjusted. The cane sides should just close 1-2 winds below the staple top before winding to the top and crossing over. This may mean tying the cane on as short as 71mm or up to 74mm depending on your staple/cane shape combination. Additionally, you may need to adjust your scrape. For further details on tuning your reed please refer to Understanding the Oboe Reed by Graham Salter, pages 70 - 82.

The tool will be made available by a link on this page and a link on all staple pages on our website. Check back here every now and then to see if the tool is available yet. An email will be sent to all Hodge Products website account holders who have agreed to receive newsletter emails when the tool is completed.